


Dust Off Your Highest Hopes

by Lesty



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Don’t copy to another site, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mild Angst, Russian Idioms, The Avengers are Chronic Gamblers, Third Person POV, lot's of flowers, natasha's pov, obligatory valentines day fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 22:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17775095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lesty/pseuds/Lesty
Summary: In which the Avengers have a bet for everything, Tony loves flowers, and somehow, through all of this, Natasha has been made the resident relationship guru.





	Dust Off Your Highest Hopes

**Author's Note:**

> If my goal wasn't to name every one of my fics with a reference to a Taylor Swift song, this would be called "The Valentines Bet"
> 
> -/- 
> 
> This fic uses Floating Boxes! Hover the mouse over underlined text to see translations and authors explanations (many a Russian idiom is used in this fic, it was loads of fun to research). I'm sorry though, if you're on mobile you won't be able to use this feature! To remedy this (somewhat) I've listed the idioms used in the end notes.
> 
> Each plant mentioned is linked towards an image of the plant. I didn't want to put the images into the fic because I personally found it kind of jarring to just... have them there. I recommend you check them out though because they are all amazing soft beans who deserve love and attention.
> 
> I really love flowers, okay.
> 
> The title comes from the Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran song "[Everything Has Changed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1oM3kQpXRo)" =)

It was no surprise to anyone that Tony wanted to go to the botanical gardens. “I love flowers.” He said.

Which to anyone with half an eye, was completely obvious.

Tony lit up whenever he was surrounded by anything to do with florals. Be it actual flowers, clothing, the myriad of artworks Steve did (although, he probably loved those because Steve made them too), or the design of the take away coffee cup from that cart he and Natasha went to the other day.

The man went nuts for them.

So, for a selection of somewhat observant superheros with _two_ eyes – yeah. They knew.

Natasha had just been waiting for Tony to actually mention the botanic gardens.

Villainous Eve – as she called herself, had swung into New York with all the rage but none of the politics of a tree hugging activist. She had ripped the earth from the botanic gardens and weaved it through the city, trapping civilians in venomous vines and collapsing buildings.

Clint, of all people, worked out the best way to deal with her. Apparently she acted like a knockoff Poison Ivy – some anti-hero in the comics he liked, and so he shot her down a peg or two.

Natasha almost rolled her eyes, now she was _thinking_ puns. She had been hanging out with Tony far too much.

And it wasn’t as if Natasha underestimated Clint or his deduction skills, Natasha trusted him almost above all else for a reason. It’s just… they were plants. It would have been more up Bruce’s field, or even Tony’s.

And he’d gotten the idea from some _comics_.

So, last month had been devastating. The city was still recovering from Villainous Eve’s damage, but the gardens were repaired, a large part due to Tony’s donations and personal scouting for replacement plants.

Natasha had never seen anything like it. He had dived into the project like a fish in the water. For weeks he had been dragging various friends (mostly Steve) to different nurseries, even overseas. If Natasha had been bothered to find out why, she would have. But quite frankly, she didn’t _want_ to know why they had to go to so many nurseries all over the globe. Most probably it had to do with supply and demand, but when Tony got passionate about something, he also boarded over the edge of an eccentric rich man, so Natasha often avoided it. (1)

So yes, they knew Tony loved flowers.

Steve put the spoon he was using into the bowl of cereal Tony had made him – because of course Tony had made it for him, he always did. “When would you like to go?” He asked. Natasha drummed her nails on the table, these two were still too wholly oblivious, and she was running out of time.

“Today?” Tony said, his voice pitching slightly. He was looking at Steve – only at Steve.

Natasha stilled her fingers on the table, she had no need to worry.

Across the table from her, Clint fidgeted slightly, his finger skimming the rim of his glass. Their eyes met and Natasha smirked. He _should_ be nervous.

After all, Clint’s deadline was today.

Clint scowled back before diving into his cereal – one he had to make himself.

“That sounds like a lot of fun,” Thor said, piling another muffin onto his plate from the kitchen. He had arrived late today for family breakfast, as was the norm with him. Natasha glanced at his hands, they were clean – for once. Perhaps he was finally setting up the phone Tony had given him.

Because honestly, _ravens?_

He kept steeling minute glances at his thumb, opting to carry his plate with his left hand instead of his right as he came to the table. So he’d hurt himself.

The glass.

The glass on the screen of the phone.

 _Dammit_. Bruce won the bet.

Natasha placed her slice of toast onto her plate. “Tony,” she asked, “how long would it take you to repair a phone screen?” She asked.

Thor looked up at her, his expression falling. “How did you know?”  
  
She shrugged. “It wasn’t hard to guess.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow, slowly smirking. “Care to explain, Natasha?”  
  
“Thor cracked his phone screen this morning, which is why he is late.”

“You finally went to set it up!” Tony said, beaming at Thor as he sat down.

Thor nodded. “You suggested that I should, so I did.”  
  
Bruce smirked. “Five dollars please, everyone.”  
  
Clint groaned, forking over ten. He looked over at Natasha. “Shout my coffee at the botanical gardens today and we’re even.”  
  
“Or just give me five less next week.”  
  
Bruce, busy stuffing four five dollar notes into his pocket said. “You cannot possibly know that it’s next week.”  
  
“What’s next week?” Tony asked.

“Just a thing.” Clint said quickly.

Thor rolled his eyes before unwrapping a muffin. “We have a bet on which girl will receive the white rose on the bachelor. Natasha thinks it will happen next week.”

Tony screwed up his nose like there was a bad smell. Whilst Tony and Steve, like the rest of them, loved the mind numbing trivialities of a good reality TV Show, Tony couldn’t stand The Bachelor, and without Tony there, Steve wouldn’t watch it. It was a good excuse, and easily explained why there was a bet that the their superhero parents weren’t involved in. Natasha would have to make more muffins for Thor, he was good at getting them out of a jam.

“Speaking of bets,” Thor said, “I believe there’s something wrong with the phone Tony.”  
  
Tony looked up at him in shock. “Something wrong?”  
  
“Not to do with you or your tech,” Thor amended, “but with me. It didn’t seem to recognise my hands… I couldn’t use it.”

Bruce perked an eyebrow. “Huh, it could be because you’re Asgardian.”

Thor nodded. “Yes, that’s what I was thinking. I _could_ always go back home and get a phone from Asgard.”

“You can do that?” Natasha asked.

“You have phones on Asgard yet you insist on a raven.” Clint said.

“They’re a rather amusing toy for children.” Thor said, not mentioning the ravens at all.

Natasha took a bite of her toast. Ah, so Thor used the raven on purpose just to mess with people.

Genius.

Natasha wondered how long it would take the rest of them to find out. She winked at Thor who smiled softly back. They could discuss it later.

Eventually the conversation drifted and Tony and Steve left the room, leaving only Bruce, Thor, Clint and Natasha. Tony had gone down to the workshop to work on something for Pepper, and like clockwork, Steve had followed shortly after. Natasha ran through their interactions in her mind, there wasn’t really any change from last week.

Clint wasn’t winning the bet.

“Dammit Nat,” Clint said, “you almost blew our cover!”

“It didn’t seem like the wisest thing to do, I’ll agree.” Thor said.

Natasha rolled her eyes. “I was scoping the field. You’ve lost Barton.”  
  
Clint scoffed. “We’re all third wheeling a glorified date in a couple of hours, I’ll be fine.”

Natasha hummed, pouring herself and Bruce more juice from the jug. Clint was speaking just a tad too fast for him to be believably calm. Bruce patted Natasha on the hand in thanks as he took his glass. “Technically it would be third, fourth, fifth, and six wheeling. We’re a bus. There’s no date there.” He said.

“You’re getting a bit too sure of yourself though Natasha,” Thor said, “maybe we should review the terms of the bet.”  
  
Bruce laughed. “Which one?”  
  
“Meet the Avengers,” Natasha said with a wry grin, “saviours of the world – _and_ of chronic gambling.”

Bruce snorted, juice coming out of his nose. In a rush he was clutching it, moaning whilst Clint cackled beside him, his spoon clattering to the floor. Natasha put a hand to her mouth, chuckling and trying not to snort in the process. Beside her, Thor howled, shaking the table as he lay on it, laughing mercilessly.

“Be that as it may,” Bruce said after their laughter had died down, “Reviewing the terms of the bet is a good idea.”

Natasha nodded. “FRIDAY, could you please bring up the details of the Mom and Dad bet please?”

“Of course, Ms. Romanov.”

On the table in front of them, a blue hologram emerged, showing a table listing each of their names, their price, and their terms.

“So,” Natasha said, “the basic terms were this; we all betted on when our resident superidiots realise they’re in love with each other, and stumble into a relationship together. Do we all agree?”

There was a various mumbled response of agreement, so Natasha continued. She opened up Thor’s bar, which was grey since he had already lost the bet. “Thor, you bet $50 that they would finally make a move on each other at New Years. You got your cash ready?”

Thor bit the inside of his cheek. “Do humans have a worse word for idiot, because that’s what they are. But yes, I’ve got it in my dinosaur coin bank on my dinosaur shelf.”

Clint blinked slowly. “Do I _want_ to know what that’s about?”

Bruce waved a hand. “It’s fairly innocent.”  
  
“I missed the dinosaurs!” Thor bemoaned, “I’m thousands of years old and I _missed the Dinosaurs!_ They’re all I want to see in my life.”

“Huh”. Clint said.

“He wants Tony and I to bring them back -”

“It would be so easy!” Thor said, “the two of you are some of the smartest men I have ever known! If anyone could do it, it would be you! Surely there is some dinosaur DNA somewhere that-”

“And Tony and I told him we wouldn’t because beside all the reasons why it would be unethical, we’ve seen Jurassic-”

“But you forget one thing!” Thor said.

Bruce sighed. “And what is that, Thor.”  
  
Thor bit his lip, and spoke in the softest voice Natasha had ever heard from the man. “That I love them.”

 Before Bruce could reply, Natasha intervened. “дурачок is a worse word for idiot.” She said, “And you need to watch one of the Jurassic movies Thor.”(2)  
  
Clint hummed. “Next movie night!” 

Bruce nodded. “We’ll grab Tony and watch the original trilogy. If you _still_ want us to make dinosaurs after… we’ll talk.” 

Thor nodded resolutely. “That seems like a fair and just plan.” 

Natasha opened Bruce’s bar next. “So Bruce, you bet $50 that they would get together in March, but you have no circumstances as to how or why. Confident in adding any yet?”  
  
Bruce shrugged. “Hmm, add that it will have something to do with flowers.” 

“How much are you betting with friend?” Thor asked. 

“Don’t do too much,” Natasha warned, “flowers are vague, especially with Tony concerned.”

“$10 then,” Bruce said. 

Natasha nodded, including the note, and then opened Clint’s. His name flashed a harsh red, his deadline date – today, glowing an angry yellow. “Clint, betting a week before Valentines Day. You still have time to back out, then you don’t owe us a cent when you lose.” 

 _“If,”_ Clint said, “ _if_ I lose. Which I won’t. It’ll happen today. Where else would be more romantic for Tony than the fucking Botanical gardens? It’ll be today, or it’s not happening at all.” 

Natasha shrugged. “Alright, it’s your loss.”  
  
She finally pulled up her own, which was pink since her deadline was five days away. “And I’m adamant that it will occur two days before Valentine’s day. Steve will make the first move, and it will have something to do with flowers.” 

“Can I make a side bet that Tony will make the first move?” Thor asked. “Just for $10, like Bruce.” Natasha hummed, looking towards Bruce and Clint. “I’m okay with it if you two are.”  
  
Clint shrugged. “Whatever man, I don’t care who makes the first move as long as it happens today.” 

Bruce nodded. “That’s fine, add it.” 

Natasha nodded. “FRIDAY, do you want to get involved?” 

FRIDAY materialised in the empty seat Tony had been sitting in. Her hair was longer than it had been yesterday, and it reached her shoulders. She hummed. “No, I’m good. This is just amusing to watch.” 

“What, _all_ of us?” Clint asked. 

“Well, it’s not like I can help it. It _is_ what I was designed to do. I feel like I’d have an unfair advantage if I got involved, since I can see everything and control, well, most of everything.” 

“Please never go Skynet,” Clint said, “I… don’t think any of us would survive that.”  
  
FRIDAY chuckled. “That’s why I only observe,” she turned to Natasha, “speaking of, keep your phone on whilst at the gardens, I’m invested in this.” 

 

-/-  

 

“Wow Stark,” Natasha said, the tall black iron gates lining the six as they walked in, “you’ve really out done yourself.”  

Walking into the gardens was like being transported into a haven. Bird calls, cicada’s, and the distant noise of running water were the soundtrack against the dark towering oak trees. Their leaves wove above their heads, shielding them from the harsh sun as they wandered through the crowd. Iridescent blues, greens, yellows, and pinks painted the sides of the large cobblestone road, which wound through various plants and onto flattened dirt pathways. A cool breeze blew through Natasha’s hair, and made a rustling noise with the leaves and branches, another instrument to the gardens band. When Natasha breathed in, she could feel the tranquillity of the plants, the easiness of the lives of the animals –  the squirrels burrowing into trees, the frogs hopping on the ground, and felt a sense of kinship with them.   

It was like some sort of paradise, which was difficult for Natasha’s mind to wrap around. For Natasha, she hadn’t earned the right to feel at peace like this, in this environment.  Yet she did, and as she gazed at various statues that decorated the park, and the plaques that explained them, she could start to understand Tony’s love of flowers.   

Tony latched onto Steve’s hand. “Follow me,” he said, “I want to show you my favourite part.”  

He weaved them through the crowd, pausing to point out various flowers that he loved. “[French hydrangeas](https://cdn.webvanta.com/000000/51/74/slider_detail/uploads/plant/1513465784-d39d72d1238769504/Hydrangea%20macrophylla%20Hamburg%20Raham%20City2Optimized.jpg)”, he said when Thor asked about a plant whose small purple flowers clumped together like a bush. “Native to Japan actually, most hydrangeas are from around East Asia though.”  

“And those?” Clint asked as they stumbled to the side of a dirt path, which wasn’t the right way to where they were going according to Bruce – who had the map, but none of them really minded. He pointed at a collection of gorgeous pink and yellow flowers with a yellow centre.   

Tony crouched down, plucking one off the plant. “[Desert Rose](https://d3vcbi7kncg38u.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/sturts-desert-rose.jpg), native to Northern Australia. They’re actually the official flower of the area – really drought resistant, need less water than a cactus.”   

He gave the flower to Natasha. “I saw how you were looking at it.” He said softly, walking past.   

Natasha gazed at the flower, smiling softly. She didn’t have the words to describing how she felt in that moment, except, she didn’t want to win the bet. Tony deserved to be happy _right_ now.   

She placed the flower behind her ear and they continued onward, Tony with Steve’s hand clutched into his, winding through the mass of crowds again. Natasha smirked, nudging Clint as they hurried after the superidiots. Clint winked triumphantly, grabbing her hand so they could keep up. Those two hadn’t let go of one another yet, she wondered if they had realised.  

Probably not.  

They neared a water fall (“which is still off track, Tony, we’re never going to reach the statues, just look at the map!”) which housed a variety of different ferns. Thor crouched down and stroked through a smaller one which was deep in the water. “There’s no sign here Tony, what is this plant?”  
  
Tony hummed, turning away from talking to Steve to see what Thor had been looking at. “Oh!” he said, dragging Steve with him as he walked over to Tony. Clint snickered beside Natasha, whilst Bruce took some photo’s on his phone, feigning that they were of plants. “That’s an [African Water Fern](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1163/2672/products/African-Water-Fern-on-Driftwood-2_1024x1024.jpg?v=1537300008), they’re brilliant.” He let go of Steve hand to crouch down beside Thor. Natasha noticed Steve’s look of mild shock, before he too crouched down on the other side of Thor. She sighed, Clint wasn’t winning the bet today. “They grow from Ethiopia to Senegal, and they’re in South Africa too. Basically it chills out around watery or boggy areas, so it’s a good spot here.”  

“This is the first quiet spot we’ve been too in the entire gardens.” Bruce commented absentmindedly, putting his phone away.  

It _was_ incredibly crowded today. The reopening of the botanic gardens had attracted people from all over the city. It was even more popular due to Tony’s elaborate, and accidentally highly covered involvement.   

He had posted to social media a lot.  

People were excited to see what he had done.  

“Yeah, I bought us here because there’s a quiet short cut through here,” Tony said, standing up and stepping towards the back of the waterfall, “so we can avoid the crowd.”  

Natasha hummed. “Good idea, we’re herring in a barrel out there.” (3)

They carefully balanced over some mismatched rocks that were clumped together between the waterfall and another stone wall face with dangling vines.   

“How is this a short cut…” Clint asked, raising an eyebrow.   

Tony shrugged. “Just watch,” he said, before dramatically parting them to the side, revealing a cave.  

Natasha was impressed, at first glance she wouldn’t have suspected anything was there.

Clint whistled. “Oh damn Tony, that’s actually pretty cool.”  

“How did you think of that?” Bruce asked, awe lacing his voice.   

Tony shrugged. “It’s just [Common Ivy](https://www.todayshomeowner.com/images/article/ask-julie-how-control-english-ivy-1.jpg), but it’s the same thing that Mother Gothel used to hide the tower in Tangled, so I figured, why not.”  

Steve chuckled. “ _Of course_ you got the idea from a Disney movie.”  

The cave was dark and small, Natasha could barely see a thing beyond the heads of her friends, but she didn’t feel trapped here, or claustrophobic. Natasha didn’t want to admit it, and she easily had the ability to lie to herself, but, she knew she deserved better than that. Natasha felt safe here, _because_ she could see the heads of her friends, because she was surrounded by them.  

Thor’s soft voice echoed around them, and Natasha felt at ease. “What are we under right now?”  

Tony wrapped his arms around Steve and Thor, standing on his tip toes to walk between them. “We’re under the café I think, or the green house next to it. No one above will notice this is here.”  
  
Thor nodded and gently shrugged Tony off. “Interesting.”  

Bruce leant over to Natasha, his eyes on Tony, who still had his arm wrapped around Steve. “Is it too late to change my bet?”  

“Yup.”

Natasha audibly gasped as they left the cave.  The mouth of the cave lead the group into a sunny, secluded valley. Around them stretched a never ending sea of gold and marble, with designs etched in that were reminiscent towards 1930’s art deco. Natasha ran her hands along the stone, marvelling at how smooth it felt under her fingers. In front of her, long columns towered into an archway, with vines with white flowers wrapped around them. They were planted in white pots at the base of the columns, with little intricate golden leaves grooved onto the hem of the pots.  

There were hedges that lined the garden. Cut into them were different Nordic runes that Natasha could recognise, but couldn’t translate or explain. Thor gravitated to them, and ran his hands along the golden metal that held it all in place.  The entire garden held a sense of grandeur of scale with antique simplicity. Triangle and curved lined patterns were carved onto almost every surface, but often petered out into the blank slate of the stone. Gold was woven into various surfaces, it was beautiful in its subtlety. Tony’s garden was the perfect meshing of Asgardian design, American Art Deco, and Russian Neoclassicalism.   

Natasha took a shuddering breath, running a hand along a window that cut into the hedge, it could have been taken straight out of her childhood house. This place, it reminded her of St. Petersburg – of home.  

“What plant is that?” Steve asked, pointing at the vines on the columns that opened the archway. His tone was subdued, as if he was taking it all in as well. Natasha wasn’t surprised, it wasn’t common to see 1930’s art deco anymore, he was probably being reminded of home, too.  

“[Russian vine](https://sites.create-cdn.net/siteimages/18/3/8/183826/10/4/8/10487585/310x240.jpg?1445168042).” Natasha said before Tony could respond, her hand grazing over the leaves. She had recognised them immediately. For a moment she was brutally reminded of her and her cousins pulling them out of the vegetable garden and stacking them by the wall. It was a nice memory.  She covered up the appreciation she had with an ire that she wasn’t feeling. “Which is idiotic, may I remind you Tony. They grow fast, grow everywhere, and are almost indestructible.”  

Tony came beside Natasha and squeezed her shoulder, obviously not fooled. 

“They’re known as the ‘mile-per-minute’ vine.” he said to Steve, continuing what Natasha had been saying. He paused for a moment, blushing slightly. “But also – I,” He sighed, gathering his thoughts, “when I was building this bit, I was in charge of it, and well – I was kind of, no, I _was_ , thinking of all of you, as I made this.”  

Warmth filled Natasha chest as she gazed at her friend. She smiled softly at Tony, hoping it was enough to convey the gratitude, the sheer amount of love she held for him in that moment. By the look she got in return, she thought it did.  

Bruce was curled on a bench, which was surrounded by small trees, looking at the garden with a soft, serene expression. “That’s, that’s really sweet Tony.”  
  
“They're [tea plants](https://www.houseoftea.ie/image/catalog/information-images/tea-plant.jpg).” Tony explained, gesturing to the plants around the bench, “I couldn’t really think of anything that represented you more.”  

“Camellia sinensis” Bruce whispered, running his hand on the branches with a grin.   

Clint walked under the arch way gazing up at the purple flowers that headed it. “Hey I recognise these! What’re they called?”  
  
Tony looked up to where Clint was looking and smiled. “[Rose Vervain](https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wKxdvlb7z1k/UY42uNPyAcI/AAAAAAAAC5c/yqO6cOikOuw/s1600/comp+Rose+verbena+Glandularia+canadensis++051013.jpg). They’re native along the Mississippi River, but particularly up north in area’s such as Wisconsin and Iowa.”   

Clint gave Tony a puzzled look that was going soft around the edges. Natasha almost grinned for him. “Iowa?” (4)  
  
“Yeah,” Tony said, his voice small, “it spreads everywhere too, all over the country. The grey ones are introduced, but the purple ones are native. They often mix together though like a flowers version of a circus.”  

Clint’s mouth formed an ‘o’ shape, but his eyes were sparkling. Natasha walked over and took his hand, he looked like he was about to cry. “That’s, that’s really awesome Tony.”  

The archway was spectacular, blank, strong, white stone lined the edges of the top of the archway tunnel. It let the flowers weave along the top, which was peculiar since they didn’t seem to be the sort of plants that climbed. Yet, it worked.   

Tony whispered something in Steve’s ear and the pair walked off, saying how they would be back soon and only take a moment.   

When well out of ear shot, Thor turned to the others. “This is the most thoughtful thing I have ever seen.”  

Clint was rubbing a hand over his mouth, nodding slightly in awe. His eyes hadn’t left the archways roof. “I don’t-. When I was a kid, we had this pot by the front door, overflowing with these flowers. It was the one, nice thing about that place.” Natasha blink at him, she hadn’t ever thought Clint would open up about his childhood like this. She gave his shoulder an encouraging squeeze. “When me and my broth- Barney. When Barney and I left and travelled, I’d see them around the place, and I’d feel less alone.” He shook his head, his eyes slightly glassy. Natasha knew the parts of the story Clint hadn’t said, the abusive, awful parts that he omitted from his own memory. To speak out like this – he had to have been moved. “How did he know,” he whispered, “how on earth did that stubborn genius know?”  

Towards the end of their botanical garden tour, Tony gave them another detour. “It’s faster I promise, and you’ll like it.”  
  
Clint hadn’t made a comment when Tony had taken Steve’s hand again. He had been quieter since they’d seen Tony’s private garden earlier. Tony said it would be opening for the public tomorrow, but he had wanted them to see it first alone. It was beyond sweet, and Natasha could understand why her best friend was quiet. A lot of emotions were running through her core too. Tony seemed to have sensed this, because he had taken them to a smaller cobble stone path. Tall trees were littered along the pathway on both sides, sheltering a myriad of statue busts that sat along the pathway.   

“We’ve called it President Street.” Tony said, gesturing in front of him. “We got 44 different sculptors to do every president and lined then up along this path. We’re hoping it’ll be a thing.” (5) 

Thor turned to Steve as they walked down, the path, stopping sporadically to marvel at the president – or the statue. “Who was president whilst you fought in your great war?”  
  
“The second one,” Steve corrected, “and it wasn’t just the war. He was president for about ten years before that.”  
  
“President until he died,” Bruce said, “Roosevelt defined elected monarchy.”  

“Elected monarchy?” Clint asked.  

“Half the founding fathers wanted the president to be president until they died, Hamilton ranted about it for six hours at one point.” Natasha explained, choosing to omit the fact that she only knew this information because of Broadway, “Madison wanted it too. The proposal lost by 6 votes though. After Washington left to sit under his ‘own vine and fig tree’ after two terms, it became tradition to do the same. FDR didn’t though, he stuck around and was elected for four terms.”  
  
“It’s why it’s law now that you can’t do more than two terms, because the republicans didn’t want to be run in a ‘Democratic Party Police State’, so they changed the law after he died.”  

Steve shook his head. “It was different back then though. We were in the recession, war was looming on our shores. The second world war wasn’t some sort of gradual thing. It grew, we could see it coming from miles away, we just didn’t have the power to do anything about it. Roosevelt provided security, he had experience, he knew how to lead us out of the war. And he did.”  

They arrived at his statue. It was decent, but hardly anything remarkable. But – Natasha supposed, she felt that way about all the bronze statues. She didn’t really see anything to admire about in any of the presidents.

“I met him, you know.” Steve said after a quiet moment. “After I became Captain America. He was a decent man.”  

There were a couple of more statues they pointed out to Thor and Steve as they walked on.

“JFK,” Tony said, pointing towards President Kennedy, “apparently he and dad were friends. Decent progressive guy, bit corrupt, cheated on his wife, and was shot by the CIA.”  

Natasha nodded towards the next bust. “Nixon. Watergate. Google it, it was devastating news at the time. Now… not so much. He also started the War on Drugs and was president during the moon landing.”  

“Reagan.” Tony said about the next statue. “Suppressed the AIDs crisis, expanded the War on drugs and locked up hundreds of innocent kids just because they weren’t white, killed a journalist when he exposed it. Thousands of people died because of his homophobic and racist ideology.”  

“The original guy to use ‘Make America Great Again’.” Natasha added.  

“Gary Webb uncovered that story in the 90’s, not the 80’s” Clint said.  

“Reagan still would’ve played a hand in Webb’s death though.” Tony replied.  

“Bill Clinton,” Bruce said, walking ahead of the others. It was a smart move, Natasha wasn’t interested in seeing any sort of argument between Tony and Clint.   

“Hilary Clintons husband?” Thor asked.  

“Yeah." Tony put on a surprisingly accurate Bill Clinton imitation. “I did not have sexual relations with that woman.”  
  
They laughed, Natasha shoved him slightly. “Nice one.”  

“You have to google it,” Natasha said to Thor and Steve, who had looked more confused than amused.  

“George W. Bush,” Bruce said, “started the War on Terror and was responsible for killing thousands of innocent people in the Middle East.”  

“Forced the country into the worst recession we’d seen since the Great Depression.” Tony added. “But he has a dog now and is a family man, so most people forgive him.”  
  
“It’s hard to remember why we all hated him when we have an angry Cheeto as president now.” Clint remarked.  

“Obama,” Tony gestured, “you should remember him.”  

Steve nodded. “He was very charismatic.”  
  
Thor hummed in agreement.  They neared Trumps statue – or, where it was supposed to be.  “Is that a pumpkin in lieu of Trumps statue?” Steve asked, staring at the pumpkin in front of him.  

Tony looked over his shoulder, his gaze following Steve’s. “Uh, yeah. Yup. It is.”  
  
“Why?” Clint asked, stifling a laugh.  

Tony shrugged, his voice holding a playful edge. “There was an… accident, with his. Some hooligan with amazing facial hair just kind of… dropped it. We didn’t have the time to replace it before the gardens opening, so we just… didn’t.”  
  
Clint snorted. “The pumpkin captures his likeness perfectly anyway.”  

Steve tsked. “Tony, he’s the president, you can’t just replace his statue with a pumpkin.”  
  
Tony bit his lip, crossing his arms over his front., growing awkward immediately. Natasha wanted to groan, _she_ could see the joke coming a mile away. How were these idiots so dense? “I – um, no, you’re right. It’s, it’s not the right thing to do.”  Clint was never winning the bet.  
  
“Exactly Tony,” Steve said, “that pumpkin is going to rot, and then you’ll have wasted a perfectly fruit on a man who has less use _and_ less value than this here pumpkin. Just go buy one of those second hand Halloween decorations – Goodwill should have some in stock. The pumpkin deserves better.”  

“Oh, then you can paint it the Russian colours!” Bruce added.   

“No,” Natasha said, “God loves the trinity. Do Russia’s coat of arms, but make it rainbow - gay.” (6)  
  
Clint whistled. “That’s the perfect meme.”  

Tony cackled. “That’s brilliant.”   

 

-/-  

 

Steve realised he was in love with Tony on Saturday.   

The five of them – minus Tony, were sitting together, sharing another family breakfast. Natasha had made cream of wheat, using semolina instead of oats, just like she had, had as a child. She had made it just like her grandmother had – at least, how she _thought_ her grandmother would have made it. Natasha didn’t have a lot of memories from her childhood, before the red room anyway…  

She shook the thoughts from her mind, running a hand through her hair to tuck the loose strands behind her ears. She was proud of this dish. It brought a soft smile to her face and warmed her soul. Judging by the way Thor was stuffing his face with it, it tasted good too. She rolled her eyes in amusement, she was reminded of safety, of home.  And she felt pretty much at home here.   

Tony stumbled into the room with messy hair and was wearing a hoodie that was far too big for his frame – it was Steve’s hoodie then, Natasha noted. She got up from the table to dish another bowl for Tony, who joined them at the table. Steve passed Tony a mug of coffee – because of course Steve had made Tony a coffee, whilst Natasha passed Tony his porridge and sat back down. He nodded towards Natasha, and smiled softly towards Steve.  

That’s when it happened.  

Steve looked as if his world had been turned on its head – which, Natasha judged, it probably had been. His eyes had grown wide, and were glued to Tony’s forehead. His spoon clattered into his bowl and was sinking into his forgotten porridge. Natasha would reprimand him if she didn’t have an inkling of what was running through Steve’s mind at that moment. He was shaking his head slightly, as if in awe, or as though he couldn’t quite believe it what he was thinking, what he had realised. It was most likely both.   

Then he blinked, composed himself, and dug his spoon out of his bowl. The moment was over, and no one else had been any the wiser.  

Steve glanced the table, as if trying to work out if anyone else had noticed. When his gaze rested on Natasha, she winked.  

Steve swallowed and nodded, he would come to her later.  

She would be waiting.  

 

-/-  

 

It had been three hours and Steve still hadn’t come to find her. Natasha was worried.  “FRIDAY,” she called out, folding herself over the barre, “can you turn my music off?”  
  
FRIDAY materialised beside her, causing Natasha to flinch. “Oh,” FRIDAY said as Tchaikovsky wavered off, because you could never _just_ switch it off, it was _Tchaikovsky_ , “did I make you jump?”  
  
"You get some sort of weird joy out making us all jump, don’t you?”  
  
“Not really,” FRIDAY said with a shrug, “I just find your reactions incredibly interesting.”  
  
Natasha hummed sceptically, rubbing her hands on the barre as she finished he final stretches. “So you pounce on everyone?”  
  
“To be fair, you _should_ be used to it by now.”  

“There’s no predicting where you’ll appear, and you don’t make a sound.” Natasha said, but she wasn’t irritated, because then that would mean FRIDAY had annoyed her. She was just… slightly exasperated.  
  
“Ah,” FRIDAY grinned, “so Ms. Romanov has a weakness.”  

“Don’t mention it to anyone – ever.”  

FRIDAY raised her hands in a placating gesture. “Of course not,” she shrugged, “besides, if it’s any consolation, you can only tell that you react if you’re looking for it. Clint stumbled into a window the other day when I appeared.”  

Natasha snorted. “Of course he did.” Natasha walked over to her bag, rolling her shoulders. “Do you know where Steve is?”  

FRIDAY paused for a moment. “He’s in the gym, tearing through his knuckles.”  
  
Natasha rolled her eyes, packing her things into her bag. She wasn’t even surprised. “Sparring or using the punching bag?”  

FRIDAY hummed. “He’s on the punching bag now but… Thor. He was sparring with Thor earlier. It got a little bit rough.”  

“Right.” She paused, scanning the room for her water bottle. Whilst Natasha was probably the only one who actually used the dance studio, she preferred not to leave anything around.  

FRIDAY poked her head to Natasha’s side. “What has made the Captain so upset, anyway?”  

Natasha raised a pointed eyebrow at FRIDAY.  

“Look, I can access any data in the world and have a 24/7 view of the house, but I can’t read minds,” FRIDAY said, “one moment he was fine, then after breakfast he wasn’t. I’m curious!”  

“I’ll find out.” Natasha said.  

“Is it about the bet?”  

Natasha snorted. “Which one?”  

“The one on when the Boss and the Captain finally get together?”  

“It might be, that’s what I’m going to find out.”  
  
FRIDAY hummed. “Isn’t that a conflict of interest? You helping Steve could swing things to go your way.” 

Natasha slung her bag over her shoulder. “There’s no rules saying I can’t.”  
  
FRIDAY chuckled. “Touché Ms. Romanov, touché.”  
  
“It was nice seeing you FRIDAY.”  
  
Natasha almost recoiled as she entered the gym, it was a sore sight. He was stood in the centre, a pile of torn through punching bags stacked pathetically in the corner. Bloody knuckles pounded the current ~~victim~~ bag repetitively, rattling the string that hung it. The coarse jingling sound echoed through the otherwise quiet room, it was almost deafening in the silence. Natasha leant against the doorframe, staring dumbly, she knew Steve’s revelation would rattle him, but she didn’t think it would result in _this_. Steve’s hair hung over his face, his sweat gluing it to his skin. He was panting, his chest heaving as breathed haggard, ignored breaths. The wrappings around his hands had fallen to the ground, bloody and in tatters; no doubt Steve was in there stripping the flesh from his knuckles with each hit, using the rough skin of the punching bag as a violent sandpaper.  

Natasha cleared her throat obnoxiously. Steve didn’t respond.  

Dammit.

Natasha dumped her bag by the door and stalked towards him, cracking her knuckles. Steve ignored her – or rather, he hadn’t noticed her enter in the first place. The sharp trace of iron hit Natasha like a sharp punch to the gut. It was one she was unfortunately, intimately familiar with. She grimaced as its presence mingled with the tangy odour of sweat from the gym.   Steve didn’t seem to notice _that_ either.  Natasha timed her steps which each hit of the bag, using it to hide the sound of her movement. She leant to the side and clutched the bag with force, stopping the bags movements and so forcing Steve to stop too.  

Steve paused, blinking for a moment, before looking up. “Oh.”   

“Yes. _Oh_.”  
  
“How long have you been here for?”  
  
“Long enough,” Natasha said. She looked down at his hands and winced. They were mangled beyond recognition. Steve’s flesh was bruised and mattered, blood poking out through the rips and tears in his skin. “Come on, we’re cleaning this up.”  

Natasha refused to take no for an answer, and tugged Steve’s arm slightly before walking off. She listened for Steve’s begrudging footsteps before sliding into the side room where the first aid kit was. “Sit.” She ordered when he had entered.   

Behind her, Steve sat in one of the wooden chairs in the room. Natasha rolled another one over, setting up the first aid kit on the bench beside them.   

“Now,” Natasha said, sitting to face him and taking his left hand, “are you going to tell me why you have decided that destroying your hands is the best thing to do with your day today?”  

Steve grunted as she poked and prodded. “Don’t pretend you don’t know.”  
  
Natasha raised an eyebrow. “Humour me – because right now, I really _don’t_ know.”  

Steve shrugged, knocking his hand a bit. Natasha steadied it, but otherwise ignored it. “You noticed it at breakfast.” He said.  
  
“You realised you’re in love with Tony. Right.” Natasha said pragmatically, because that was obvious. “However, it doesn’t explain how you’ve interpreted that towards bloodying up Tony’s supply of punching bags that _everyone else uses but you_.”  

“Oh come on Nat, you use the same reinforced punching bags I use.”  
  
Natasha pinched his wrist. Steve winced. “It improves my skill, but that’s beside the point. My question stands and _you’re avoiding it.”_ She took the antiseptic, her voice taking a softer edge. “This will hurt.”  
  
Steve hissed. “Nat, it will heal on its own, do you really have to -”  

Natasha dabbed the antiseptic a little harder to shut him up. “If you don’t clean this out and aid the healing, then your body will mess up the healing process. Think of skin growing in the wrong place, blood clotting and forming a longer lasting bruise, that sort of thing. Sure, it _will_ heal, but you have to be realistic about this, you need to give your body direction on _where_ to heal; and don’t let it heal whilst you’ve still got dirt and grime trapped under all this shredded skin. That’s just idiotic.”  

Steve nodded dumbly, choosing not to argue with her. Good. She was right, after all.   

“So,” Natasha said, moving back to the topic at hand, “Tony.”  
  
Steve shook his head. “There’s nothing to talk about.”  
  
“Well,” Natasha said again, a slight lilt in her voice, “ _most_ people who realise they’re in love with someone, often start the process of wooing them – not going out of their way to indirectly beat themselves up.”  

“I was with the punching bag!”  
  
“I wasn’t talking about the punching bag, I was talking about the rough-housing with a certain Nordic warrior with a hammer – but that applies too.”  

“I – I don’t know what you want me to say.”  
  
Natasha put the antiseptic down and looked at Steve. She reached up and tapped his temple. “What’s going on in here? Why are you so rattled?”  
  
“He’s my best friend, Nat!” Steve breathed out. Natasha nodded, taking the pressure wrap from the kit, willing him to continue as she worked. “I mean, obviously I knew I loved him, but I always thought it was like how I love you, or the rest of the team, you know?”  

Natasha tied the wrap off. “But then you looked at Tony a different way…”  
  
“And it just hit me!” he said, “I realised that – well, and I _can’t_ be in love with him, he’s my best friend! He’s – he’s Tony. He’s _everything_ Nat, and I’m… well, I’m me.”  
  
Natasha hummed, placing his hand on the table and taking his right hand.  

“He’s so special. He’s so good, and kind, loyal, and too generous for his own good. He – he runs a company, his own business, he mentors kids and he’s leading the fight for green energy! He’s throws himself into everything he does, he’s incredible!   

“Then there’s me, I stand to the side. It’s like I’m there, but I’m not at the forefront, you know. He has so much, he _does_ so much, for _so many_ people, that I would just fill space that he needs for other things.  

“And I know he cares about me, but it’s just like how he cares about all of us. You, Bruce, Clint, Thor, Rhodey, Pepper, Happy, FRIDAY, his bots. He loves us all so much, I know that, but he loves us in the sense that we’re his family. He doesn’t love us – me, in any sort of way that could signify anything more. And I don’t blame him.  

“Look – I know that it’s not like I’m not good enough for him, that’s for him to decide and I wouldn’t take that agency from him. But, he has this whole world that I couldn’t possibly fit in, this whole life where right now, I can squeeze into, but anything more and I’d just throw myself out. He just holds _so much_ life, and I’m – well, I’m just a lucky kid from Brooklyn that ran into the right scientist at the right time.   

“And he’d be so kind about it, I would confess and he would let me down gently, promise we would be friends. But then it would be there, weighing on the both of us, and it wouldn’t be the same.   

“And I have to honour him, honour our friendship. He’s had so many people hurt and use him in the past, I _won’t_ be one of those. He knows where we stand with one another, I know where we stand with one another, and I won’t take advantage of that – or him.”  

Natasha set Steve bandaged right hand on the table with his left, sighed, then raised her head so she could lock eyes with him. “So let me get this straight, you don’t think you’re good enough for him, even though you think that’s for him to decide – no Steve, you just said he’s too great and has created too great of a world for you to fit in, don’t argue with me. You also value your friendship and don’t want to lose that, which is fair, anyone in your position would be. Those are your main concerns.”  

Steve shrugged. “Well, I wouldn’t put it so concise…”  
  
“No,” Natasha snorted, “evidently you wouldn’t." Natasha sighed. “Look Steve, love is evil, you may fall in love with a Kozol. You have to give Tony more credit.” (7)  
  
Steve scrunched up his face. “I understood those words, but not in that order.”  
  
“It’s a Russian idiom. It means that you can’t control who you love. If you love him, who’s to say he doesn’t love back, or isn’t capable of loving you back? Would he stop being your friend just because you confessed your feelings?”  
  
“No!” Steve said, “of course not.”  
  
“Then you have nothing to lose. Everything stopping you, everything you have been overthinking and over analysing for three hours – is all in _your_ mind. You’re not the only variable in this, Tony is as well.”   

Steve bit his lip. “I suppose…”  
  
“Steve,” Natasha said, “stop being a coward and woo your boy already.”  
  
Steve raised an eyebrow. “Woo? I haven’t heard that phrase since I was a kid.”  
  
“So do it.” Natasha said. “That’s how all the guys got their fella’s back in the day right?” She asked coyly.  

“Ah yeah, all the boys loved those hidden lists with our names hastily scribbled on them in brothels whilst our existence was illegal – but I get your point.” Steve said. He rubbed his neck rather shyly. “So, how do I woo him?”  
  
Natasha hummed. “I’m not sure, you’re friends – good friends, and that’s a solid foundation for a successful relationship, but I can’t differentiate between what you’re doing now and what you need to do differently. That’s what you need to do – you need Tony to realise that he’s special to you, more so than the rest of us.”  
  
“How do I do that?”  
  
“It’s different for everyone Steve, you’ve got to cater it specifically to Tony. There’s the generic stuff, chocolate, movies, dinner, all the Valentine’s Day crap. It depends on him, and you would know more about what he likes than I would.”  
  
“I guess.”  
  
“Look, you don’t want to hurt him, you want him to know that you’re not going to hurt him, _prove_ _that_. Prove that you know him well enough, and that you’re willing to put in the time and energy to make him happy. ‘Honouring him’ – as you put it, has nothing to do what anyone else has done in the past, and focuses on what you’re doing now. Just, respect him, and keep loving him, and you’re fine.” Natasha almost cringed, _‘keep loving him’,_ sometimes she couldn’t believe the conversations she shimmied into.  

“He’s not that big on extravagant gifts… he gives them but he doesn’t like to receive them.”  
  
“Steve, it doesn’t have to be extravagant. Like I said, cater it towards the individual, do something you know will make him happy.” 

“How else?”  
  
Natasha shrugged. For her it was obvious that they should be dating, because they already acted like they _were_ dating. “What do you do already for him? What do you love to do when you’re alone with him?”  
  
Steve thought for a moment. “I hang out in the workshop a lot, I sketch,” he added with a blush, “– him, mostly, when I think about it. He forgets to eat so I make him food. We play chess, or he takes me to different art collections even though he hates it. Honestly – I just love being with him.”  

Natasha smiled softly, watching as Steve’s own smile grow into a bigger, dopier grin as he spoke about Tony. Half of her wanted to smack him on the back of the head for not realising he was feeling this earlier, because _honestly_ , how could a human be so oblivious. The other half wanted to wrap a blanket around him and kiss his forehead. She decided on a middle ground. “Put that into something tangible. The best kind of gifts, the best kind of _anything_ , is when it comes from a place that’s pure and genuine. Steve, you don’t have to change how you act, just be more obvious about it.”  
  
“That doesn’t help at all.”  
  
Natasha patted his hand, which was already healing well. “It will, I promise you it will. Just think of what he would like. I can’t tell you that or it won’t be genuine, and it _has to come from you.”_   

 

-/-  

 

On Sunday night the team got together for their weekly movie night. Steve and Tony were late. 

“They’re probably making out.” Clint snorted, dangling off of a ledge Tony had installed for him.  

Bruce rolled his eyes. “Steve spent the afternoon burning the kitchen, they’re not making out.”  
  
“They do this every week.” Natasha added, although, she was secretly hoping tonight was a little bit different.  

Thor was miffed, they were supposed to be watching Jurassic Park right now. “Yes, but never on _movie night_.”  

“We could start without them?” Clint suggested, pouring his microwave popcorn packet into a bowl.  

“FRIDAY,” Bruce said, “can you let the super-idiots know that we’re starting the movie now, with or without them?”  
  
“Don’t let them know we call them the super-idiots.” Thor said.  
  
FRIDAY materialised on the sofa reserved for Tony and Steve, and snorted. “Obviously, and of course Doctor Banner.”  

Natasha nudged Bruce with her head, she was sitting on the floor in front of him and Thor, buried in a bean bag. “We should’ve moved movie night to Valentine’s Day.” 

“We can still do another movie night on Thursday too.” Bruce said.  

“Ooh yes, a movie marathon when we all have wicked food coma’s!” Clint said, taking a handful of popcorn, “Love Actually, Valentine’s Day, The Lorax, The Giver.”  
  
“Love Actually is a Christmas movie.” Bruce said.  “And The Lorax?” Natasha said, “You just started listing movies Taylor Swift is in.”  They waited until Clint had finished chewing. “There’s romance in those movies too!” Clint defended.  “I’m sorry but I won’t be here for that,” Thor said. “I will be spending the day with Jane.”  
  
Natasha hummed, her heart sinking a bit. It would have been nice to spend the day together, celebrate a different kind of love, the first kind of love that had helped Natasha feel whole. “That’s fair, you deserve to spend the day with her.”  
  
“The Boss won’t be free either,” FRIDAY said. “He’s got a dinner meeting with some new investors. Pepper’s been on his arse about it for weeks, it’s actually really rather funny.”  
  
Clint groaned, whether that was a reaction towards what FRIDAY had said, or because he was picking out un-popped kernels of popcorn, Natasha didn’t care. “So that’s two out.”  

“Would Steve show if Tony wasn’t here?” Bruce asked.  

“He would, but he’d be mopey as shit.” Clint said.  

“Wednesday then?” Natasha suggested.  Bruce sighed.

“No, I’m testing a strain of HIV, it’ll eat into the day, I won’t be able to get out of the lab.”  
  
“Woah Brucie, are you trying to make a vaccine for it?” Clint asked, pausing lining up the popcorn kernels in a row beside him, to stare at Bruce in awe.  

Bruce shrugged. “Trying is the key word. It’s a virus that attacks the immune system and the bloods antibodies, so it’s a bit impossible to do so, since the white antibodies are what’s needed to fight the disease.”  

“If anyone can do it friend, it’ll be you.” Thor said, patting Bruce on the back.  

Natasha hummed in agreement. “Definitely, and Clint, don’t you dare flick those at me.”  

Clint snorted, back on task. “God no, these are for Tony.”  “What about Tuesday?” Thor suggested.  
  
Natasha grinned, thinking of the bet. “Yeah, Tuesday could work.”  Clint cackled. “Yeah, we’re going to need to comfort Nattie-bear somehow when she loses the bet.”  
  
“Nattie-bear?” Natasha asked.  

Clint shrugged, shuffling so the top half of his body was hanging upside down from the ledge reaching his hand out to shuffle the un-popped kernels along. “I’m trying out nicknames.”  
  
“Yeah,” Natasha said, “you’re stopping that.”

Clint grinned manically. “Oh no, I’m definitely not. Your reaction alone made it worth it.”  
  
Natasha rolled her eyes but otherwise didn’t comment, the nickname was harmless and Clint wouldn’t use it to embarrass her, he wasn’t like that. “FRIDAY, is Tony free on Tuesday?”  
  
FRIDAY paused, most likely scanning his timetable. “He should be.”  
  
“Alright, put the family’s Valentine’s Dinner in there then.” Bruce said. “And Steve will come if Tony’s there, right?”  
  
“Yep.” – “Oh definitely.” – “Of course.” The others chorused.  “Can we start the movie now?” Thor asked, “Please? There are _dinosaurs_.”  
  
Natasha grinned, patting Thor on the knee. “Of course buddy.”  

They were only a few minutes into the movie when Tony raced inside, dragging Steve behind him with his hand clutched in Steve’s. “Sorry! We got side tracked, Steve was playing fetch with U, Dum-E was getting jealous and Butterfingers kept hiding the ball, it was this whole thing.”  

Natasha waved a hand towards their sofa. “Sit down, the movie’s playing.”  

Tony nodded, pulling Steve down beside him, who was staring dumbly at their still interlocked hands. “I promise you Thor,” Tony was saying, “you want dinosaurs after we’ve watched the trilogy, I can get an island.”  
  
“Tony,” Bruce said, “don’t encourage it.”  

“I’m not sharing my popcorn.” Clint said, throwing another piece into his mouth.  

“You totally will.” Tony said with a grin, burying himself under multiple blankets and throwing them over Steve as well.   

Natasha sighed, passing them the second bowl she had made. “He really wont.”  

Bruce gave Natasha a puzzled look, poking his head towards Steve and Tony. Natasha shrugged and turned back to the TV. She didn’t know what was going on, she only knew what she hoped was developing.   

If she subtly watched them throughout the night, that was her business.  

 

-/-  

 

Natasha didn’t like Monday’s. Not because of some capitalist blin of disliking it because it was the start of the workweek. No, Natasha didn’t like Monday’s because they were the most unpredictable day of the week. Something unusual would _always_ happen on a Monday, and it would throw her out for a loop. (8)

Now, Natasha didn’t often admit she was wrong. She wasn’t often wrong, and when she was, it was for good reason, so she had no need to recognise when she was wrong. She prided herself on knowing what others can’t know, of predicting things that others couldn’t, and for controlling the pieces in the game to give her the result she desired. So for months she had assumed that Tony was like Steve, in love but just too oblivious to realise it. She had had no reason to assume otherwise. For the entirety of when she had been aware they were in love with each other, she hadn’t seen Tony’s behaviour change and she couldn’t pin point a time beforehand that his behaviour had changed. Nothing had been suggested that he didn’t know.  

She had been wrong.   

“Say that again,” Natasha said, “but slowly.”  

Tony breathed in, and then out. “I’m in love with Steve.”  

Natasha closed her book and shimmied down the sofa, patting the seat beside her. “Not that I don’t appreciate this level of trust, but, why are you telling me?”  
  
Tony collapsed into the space next to her. “Rhodey is currently off on some super-secret mission with the Air-Force, Pepper has blocked my calls for another two days – don’t ask, and you’re the only other person I could think of whose sane enough to talk about this with; and, quite frankly, I’ve been sitting on this for months now and I think I might just explode.”  

“For months?”  
  
Tony scoffed. “Oh c’mon Nat, you knew.”  

Natasha bit her tongue, she really _hadn’t_ known. But she wasn’t going to tell him that. “So, if you’ve known for months now, why is it only now that it’s becoming too much to handle?”  

“He made me Bruschetta, Nat. _Bruschetta_.” He rubbed a hand behind his neck. “It was just like how my mother used to make it.”  

“Bruschetta, huh?”  
  
Tony shrugged. “Dad went away a lot, when he was gone she was more comfortable around me. Sometimes she would give JARVIS the day off, and we would hole up in the kitchen together. We always ended up making Bruschetta – every time."

Natasha gave a small nod, grinning softly. Steve was smart. “And?”  
  
“He just did it because he wanted to make me happy.” Tony said. “I wasn’t even in a bad mood or having a bad day, he just wanted to make it better just because he could!”  

“That’s incredibly sweet.”  
  
Tony groaned. “I fucking know, right.”  

“So, what’s the issue here?”  
  
“God Natasha, he’s just – he’s wonderful!” Tony flailed. “He’s good, _he is so good,_ he’s the type of guy who would take a photo of a bee in some flowers whilst on a jog because he knows that you would like that.”  
  
“He’s done that?” Natasha asked.  

Tony gave a small, dopey smile. “Yeah, he does stuff like that a lot.”  
  
Natasha hummed. “He never has for me.”  
  
Tony frowned at Natasha momentarily. “That’s probably because you like to pretend to be a closed book. Anyway. He spends time with me, he listens to me, he lets me go on for hours about new ideas and talk about whatever it is I’m working on. And it’s exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time. Each new idea, each new though that passed through my mind, each new adventure or moment I just have to share with him, I don’t know how to not let that closeness, that bond, infiltrate the entirety of my heart.  

“But I have shopping list of issues. The shit with my dad, my past, hell I’ve never been able to have a successful relationship before, and I’ve never been interesting enough, or good enough to have someone stick around.  
  
“The funny thing is, I’m not even afraid of what he would be like in a relationship. Ty – Stone, well, he was _awful_ , and Sunset only wanted my tech’s secrets. Rumiko was, well, that’s a story and a half, and every single time, they betrayed me, they hurt me. Well, with Stone it was probably a good thing he left because _Christ_ that was awful, but that’s the thing. I can’t, for a moment, ever imagine Steve doing something like that. I trust him explicitly. I know he wouldn’t hurt me, wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, and I, I love him for that.”  
  
“Here’s an idea,” Natasha said, “why don’t you just tell him this?”  

"Tasha, no, you don't get it. Steve and I - we're incompatible. He's - well, he's _everything_ and I'm," He sighed, rubbing his nose, "I'm just some old weapons profiteer. I have far too much blood on my hands to deserve redemption, yet alone happiness."  

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him, then patted the space beside her. "Come on."  Tony shuffled down next to her, rubbing his hands together. Natasha reached over and covered his hands with her own, stopping him. "First of all," she said, "you're a self-deprecating fool. Second, has it ever occurred to you that the only reason your bullshit ‘I’m an evil war profiteer’ excuse exists is because _you’re_ the one who fixates and obsesses over it. Never mind the fact that no one else see’s you that way, none of us would care.  

“You obsess over your mistakes, and so force the rest of us to as well, even though we either don’t think it’s that big a deal, or don't think it actually matters in the first place. Tony, whatever you did as a dumb 20 something year old can be forgiven with everything you have done now to help those you once hurt.

“Ignorance, whilst an excuse for being shit, isn’t a reason for redemption, I understand that. But your redemption has come from how you have righted those wrongs – and you _have_ righted those wrongs. Steve doesn’t care about this bullshit looking glass you’ve thrust yourself onto, he cares about how _he_ sees you, which is kind, generous, and really fucking stupid.  

“Don’t disregard his own decision making skills, his own _feelings_ , because of your tendency for a self-deprecating streak of idiocy. The moment he decided to care about you – in any capacity, is the moment you became good enough for him, because it’s not up to you to decide that, to make that decision for him. It’s up to him.  

“You literally have no genuine excuse for not pursing this. You can’t use your own insecurities as a reason to force yourself into unhappiness, not when you can actually access it.”  

Tony nodded slowly, swallowing down some nerves. Natasha watched in almost fascination as he composed himself. He rubbed his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt from his free arm. “That’s, that’s all well and good Nat, but it doesn’t matter.”  

“How come?”  
  
“I know that idiot cares about me, he shouldn’t, but he does, just like the rest of you. But I -  if I confessed how I felt, god, he would be so good about it. He would be sweet, he would let me down gently and ensure that were still friends.”  
  
Natasha almost rolled her eyes, this speech felt like deja-vu  

“But it would be awkward. We would dance around each other. We would pretend everything is normal, when it wouldn’t be. There would be this big, angry, _thing_ , just hanging between us. Every interaction, every glance, every conversation, some moment that would mean something different for me than it would for him would happen, and we would just be hammered by this thing over and over again until it becomes too much. Steve wouldn’t leave like that,” Tony snapped his fingers together, “he would be a stubborn ass about it and stick around as long as he could. But it would weigh on him, it would weigh on me.  

“I’m not worried about losing him suddenly or dramatically, I’m not worried about confessing my feelings and him turning away in revulsion, he’s better than that, it’s part of the reason why I love him. I’m worried – no, I’m _scared_ that I’ll confess, and then I’ll gradually lose him. That something will permanently shift between us in a way we could never come back from. This rising _thing_ –  this _wall_ between us that I couldn’t possibly break down. I would lose him, bit by tiny, inconspicuous bit, until he would be just a face I see in my dreams, or in the hallways.   

“I – I can’t have that. The only thing worse than loving him in silence, is losing him in silence. And I would, I know I would, and I don’t think I could bare it.”  

“So every time you take his hand, or make him breakfast…”  
  
Tony laughed a hollow, empty sound. “I know, it’s awful, I know. I’m taking advantage of him, of our friendship. But, _god_ , whatever he’ll give me I’ll take, and, if for a moment, it feels like something more… I can live with that, it can help me live with this.”  

Natasha rolled her eyes, these two were idiots. “Alright Tony, _what make you think Steve doesn’t love you back?”_   

Tony spluttered. “What? I just told you, my track record, my past, my-”  

“No.” Natasha said. “Don’t think about your absurd insecurities. What has _Steve's_ actions, what has _Steve_ said, that makes you think he doesn’t love you back?”

Tony gaped like a fish, opening and closing his mouth repetitively. Natasha blinked, it was almost as if she had broken him.

She squeezed his hands in reassurance.“Make a notch on your nose. Your mind is probably one of the most brilliant things in this world, but all you’re doing is making up absurd situations and scenario’s and it’s driving you mad. If you keep making assumptions about Steve and _for_   Steve, you’re never going to find out the truth. Your biggest weakness isn’t your obsessive daddy issues or some made up bullshit narcissism issues-”  

“Well, you put that into my report so…”  

“I put it into the report so you wouldn’t be made a full avenger on purpose. I know how you feel about authority figures, especially Fury. Would you really have wanted Fury to have full control over you and the Iron Man armour? Being a consultant, in the long run, gave you leverage to control yourself and your tech, even if it was a pain in the ass.”  
  
Tony smiled softly. “I didn’t know that’s why you did that, thank you.”  

Natasha shook her head, returning the smile. “You’re an idiot if you think I didn’t start caring about you the moment I met you.”  
  
“Huh, coulda fooled me.” Tony joked.  

“You’re changing the subject.” Natasha said. “Your biggest weakness is your tendency to overthink anything that becomes remotely significant for you. Like this. You’re not taking a shot in the dark with this, you’re not going to lose him, not gradually, not at all. You forget that you both work together, you’re perfect in the field, and that says a lot about your relationship. This isn’t even the first time this has happened to you either-”  

Tony went white. “How did you know about Rhodey?”  

Natasha blinked. She hadn’t, she was thinking of Pepper. She raised an eyebrow. “Really, you’re asking me that?”  
  
“Yeah, you’re right. I shouldn’t be surprised.”  “My point is, you didn’t lose Rhodey did you, you’re closer than ever.”  

“Yeah, but I was a kid and he’s straight. That was different.”  
  
“Not really, you still fell for a friend, and you still had to work through that. My point is, don’t sell Steve short, _if_ he doesn’t love you back, sure it’ll be awkward, but you’ll get over it. And if he _does_ , then everyone’s happier for it.”

“And stop saying you’re not good enough for people, I’ve never heard anything more ridiculous in my life.”  

Tony nodded. “Huh, okay. This went far better than I thought it would.”  
  
Natasha winked. “It normally does.”  

 

-/-  

 

Tuesday was nerve wracking. Natasha hadn’t heard anything from Tony – he had locked himself in the workshop, and Steve was everywhere and nowhere. She had taken herself to the dance studio to calm her nerves. It was less about winning the bet now and more about the fact that Tony and Steve could be barrelling towards a catastrophically disastrous blow up that she would have to solve.  

Well, that wasn’t really likely, she was just making an elephant out of a fly. (10)

Like she often did when she was nervous.  

Steve walked into the dance studio during Natasha’s warm up. “Hey, Nat, can I talk to you quickly – if you’re free, that is.”  
  
Natasha pulled herself up from the linoleum floor. “Yeah of course.”  

Steve pulled out a red rose. “I got this.”  
  
Natasha stared at it for a moment, her chest constricting. She blinked, then swallowed. “Um, thank you?”  

“Oh no,” Steve scrambled, “this isn’t for you – I’m sorry.”  

Natasha breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. It’s for Tony then?”  
  
Steve worried his lip. “Well yeah, I – I got it on a whim. I was jogging home and at the traffic lights, there was this man selling roses, and I thought, well, _Tony would like that._ So I got it. And now I have it.”  

Natasha perked her head. “So the problem is…”  
  
“Do I give it to him?”  
  
“You bought it for him, didn’t you?”   

“Yeah but, he locked himself in the workshop yesterday – complete black out mode, won’t let me or Bruce in and FRIDAY has tried convincing him to get out or to let us in but he’s refused so, I don’t know if it’s welcome.”  
  
Natasha almost groaned. Damn that man was an idiot. “Give it to him, if you have something for you he’ll let you in.”  
  
“Yeah, but it’s tacky. Something has obviously happened and this random rose isn’t going to fix things. Clint showed me that new Netflix comedy special, Ray something-”  
  
“Romano.”  
  
“Yeah, Ray Romano. And he said that the roses at the lights were a dud gift, that don’t have any value or something because your partner knows you didn’t put any effort into getting them.”  
  
Natasha rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, the guy is funny. But straight people can be dumb as all hell.” She said. “Steve, it has meaning, it will have meaning to Tony. You were just going about your day, and you saw something that reminded you of Tony, that you bought _for_ Tony. It’s sweet, it shows you were thinking about him, that you were thinking about how you could make him smile. He’ll love it.”  
  
Steve nodded, swallowing. “Okay, thanks Natasha.”

Natasha smiled. “Keep your tail up with the gun!” (11)

 

-/-  

 

They were at the table for their Family Valentine’s Dinner. Clint said the only reason he had shown up was so he could subtly mock Natasha when she lost the bet. She rolled her eyes and purposely hadn’t pointed out how he had stacked a collection of physical DVD’s from home for them to watch after – all with Taylor Swift in them, obviously, even though FRIDAY had them all on file already.  

Natasha stuck her tongue out at Clint, the day wasn’t over yet.  

FRIDAY was playing with their Superidiot Bet Table whilst they waited on Steve and Tony to show up, a smirk permanently plastered on her face. Natasha drummed her fingers on the table whilst they waited – that smirk could mean anything.  

“Maybe we should just face it,” Bruce said, “I don’t think you’ve won the bet Nat.”  

“I’m not forfeiting. I’m waiting until the day is over.”  

Thor poked one of the roast chickens with his fork – there were three, they had to feed super-soldiers and a god, after all. “What could be taking them so long?”  

Clint pulled Thor’s fork back with his own. “They’re off somewhere making sure Natasha loses the bet.”  
  
Natasha ignored him, focusing on the clack of her nails against the wooden grain. When they had told him about this dinner, Steve had taken it upon himself to cook everything earlier that day. What could be taking him so long to actually show up?  

“FRIDAY?” Bruce asked. 

“They’re on the roof, actually.”  
  
“Could you tell them to get their asses down here?” Clint asked. “Thor’s hungry.”  
  
FRIDAY grimaced. “Yeah… No. They’re a bit busy right now.”  

“Wait,” Bruce said, “Tony left the workshop?”  
  
“Are they arguing?” Thor asked.  

“Yeah,” FRIDAY said, “the Boss left a couple of hours ago, he went straight to the roof. The Captain found him about thirty minutes or so ago.” She notably didn’t answer Thor’s question.  

“You’re not going to tell us what they’re doing, are you?” Natasha said.  

“No.” FRIDAY said, she closed the table. “Look, you have the choice in whether you know or not, I _don’t_. Seriously, I recommend you don’t know.”  

“They’re probably arguing.” Clint said. “Explains why Tony was holed up in his workshop in the first place.”  
  
“Hmm, I don’t know,” Bruce said, “he wouldn’t let me in either.”  

“Or me.” Thor said. “He’s therefore upset about something.”  

Clint shrugged. “You haven’t won the bet, Nat.”  
  
“That’s all you care about?” Natasha asked coyly.  
  
“No,” Clint defended, “of course I care about Tony, don’t be dumb. All I’m saying is, you need to admit when you’re wrong.”  

“I’ll admit I’m wrong about this if it turns out I _am_ wrong about this.” Natasha said.  

Clint looked pointedly towards her hand, her nails clicking aggressively on the table, then back at her. “Right.”  
  
Natasha stilled her hand.   

The door opened and Tony stumbled in rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry I’m late, I got a bit… side tracked.”  
  
The group froze, staring at the purple blotch slowly growing darker on Tony’s neck.  

“Tree sticks!” Natasha breathed, standing from the table. (12)

Tony had a hickey.   

“What?” Tony asked as he took his seat at the table. “Why is everyone looking at me like I’ve grown a second head?”  
  
“Oh my God.” Bruce breathed, his eyes almost budging out of his skull.  

Steve came in and slid into his seat in a poor attempt to stagger his entrance in after Tony. He scanned the table in curiosity before landing on Tony’s neck. “Oh.”  

Clint started laughing. “You won Nat, I can’t believe it but holy shit you won.”

“Won what?” Tony asked. “What’s happening.”

Thor joined in on the laughter. “Your neck Tony, your neck.”

Steve was blushing. “I um, yeah.”

Tony looked at him aghast. “You gave me a hickey.”

“There was a lot going on, I wasn’t paying attention.” Steve defended.  

“Oh I really don’t need to know shit like that.” Clint said.  

Bruce was laughing too. “How did you two idiots realise you’re in love with each other.”  
  
Tony turned his gaze to Bruce. “You knew?”  
  
“We all knew.” Clint corrected.  

“And you didn’t tell us?” Steve said.   

Natasha was chuckling too. “Was it the flower?”  
  
Tony rolled his eyes, but his grin betrayed him. _“Of course_ it was the flower.”  

Bruce grinned. “That's $10 my way then.”

“But who made the first move?” Thor asked.  

“What?” Tony asked, “why do you care?”

Natasha smirked. “It was Tony, he answered first.”

Thor grinned.

“And I expect another $50 from each of you.”

FRIDAY dropped some golden lights around the table. “Congrats Ms. Romanov.” She winked.  

“I can’t believe you betted on us getting together.” Tony said, but it held no malice. A goofy grin stretched across his face, and Steve wore a similar one.  

Clint groaned. “Can I get my wallet after we eat, I’m starving."

“That’s a good idea,” Thor said, stabbing a chicken with his fork, “I could eat a horse.”

So it was no surprise to anyone that Tony had gotten with Steve because of a flower. He loved flowers. 

Which to anyone with half an eye, was completely obvious.

Tony lit up whenever he was surrounded by anything to do with florals. Be it actual flowers, clothing, the myriad of artworks Steve did or the design of the take away coffee cup from that cart he and Natasha went to the other week.

He also loved Steve, who had just so happened to give him a flower.

So yes, They all knew Tony loved flowers, now he just had another reason to.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'm experimenting writing in different pov's and I haven't done Natasha before, I hope I did her justice!
> 
> I'd like to thank the wonderful @[fanfictiongreenirises](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfictiongreenirises/pseuds/fanfictiongreenirises) who has also written a [stony valentines day fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17679446) that I recommend you check out =)
> 
> You can hit me up on [tumblr](https://lesty-xx.tumblr.com/) if you so choose, and have a great 'show your love through capitalism' day! <3
> 
> -/- 
> 
> The listed idioms and authors notes:
> 
>   1. The English idiom equivalent is ‘a duck takes to water’ – meaning it’s natural to get involved.
>   2. Pronounced ‘Durachok’ meaning ‘Mooncalf’
>   3. The English idiom equivalent is ‘like sardines’ – meaning stuck in a crowd.
>   4. In the comics, Clint grew up in Waverly, Iowa, which, from my extended research (no seriously, google sucked for this, I found the answer in some reddit post), is about a two hour drive from the Mississippi river, so the flora around the river would be similar to where Clint grew up.
>   5. This is inspired by a real place known as Prime Ministers Avenue in Ballarat Australia. I’ve been there, it’s pretty cool. https://ballaratbotanicalgardens.com.au/images/park3.png
>   6. The English equivalent is ‘good things come in threes’ – the meaning is pretty self-explanatory here.
>   7. The English idiom equivalent is ‘love is blind’– meaning you can’t help who you love. Kozol’s literal translation is ‘goat’ but in this context it means a deadbeat or an arsehole. Either way it’s pretty funny
>   8. A curse word whose severity is similar to ‘darn’ or ‘shit’. It’s literal meaning is ‘crepe’ which,,, I love
>   9. The English idiom equivalent is ‘drill this in your mind’ (or an equivalent phrase – meaning listen up and take note of what I say
>   10. The English idiom equivalent is ‘making a mountain out of a molehill’ – meaning to exaggerate something
>   11. The English idiom equivalent is ‘break a leg’– meaning good luck.
>   12. The English idiom equivalent is ‘oh my god’– which is an expression of surprise or annoyance.
> 



End file.
